Raw deals are a way of life with most electronics here, but there’s a bit of moaning that is just not needed sometimes.
I’ve frequently bought items in Canadian dollars that were the same amount in US dollars (eg, I shut up and click buy now because I’m getting a good deal). 
I look for sales, warehouse deals and sometimes I can even import from Amazon US for less after exchange (including shipping and import fees) than the Canadian price.
Xiaomi devices are great when they’re paired to a Xiaomi hub. If you can achieve stability with them it can save you quite a lot of cash. There’s a new community project in its early stages, but it’s showing very promising results. It is very easy to setup, and doesn’t require anything more than a spare computer, or RPi and a $20 Mijia Multitimode Gateway with HomeKit compatibility.
You don’t need to be an iOS or Mac user, and you won’t need to configure anything after the initial setup. You just add sensors to the Xiaomi bridge and they’ll show up in HE upon first active state.
